Cadet Blue
by DecrescentMelancholy
Summary: Love between them was like a slow river meeting with the ocean at the end. It was calm, moving, and finding their meaning while walking the same path.


The ringing won't stop, flashing lights from inside the building, blinding him, the murmurs and whispers of the people around too annoying. He usually didn't interact with most of them, not if he didn't have to. He recognizes a few faces, a few familiar people he took time to acknowledge for whatever reason. There was Ishiyama-san, the one that greeted everyone politely and always had food around if you dared to go ask. On his other side was Hakamata-kun, the one resident he just couldn't handle. The pride, the ego, the style. Everything he did and owned was an eyesore and a promise for a headache, so Shouta simply didn't bother to get close.

There were others, few of them waving at him, majority ignoring him or not caring about his presence at all. That was fine, Shouta never cared about bonding with the people living inside his apartment building. The only reason as to why they were all gathered together outside at three in the morning was because the fire alarm had gone off and they had to evacuate, no one being let inside until the fire department came to check out what was wrong. So, in other words, they were going to be for a long time.

"Don't tell me you tried to dry the cat inside the microwave again." The voice came from behind him, too close for him to try and ignore it. Shouta turned his head to see who was the one that made such an outrageous question and was met with the most beautiful mane of turquoise hair he had ever seen in his life. The woman was looking directly at him, mischief and mirth in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow but decided to humor her.

"It's easier, faster. Didn't think it would cause such ruckus, though." The woman gave him a long sigh, head shaking in disappointment.

"Why didn't you use the iron?"

Shouta answered with a shrug, eyes going back to look at the building.

"Couldn't find it." He could see her step beside him, arms crossed over her chest as she, too, turned to look at the building.

"Blowing on him?"

"It was taking too long."

Her lips pursed, shoulder making a movement of mild indifference. "Did you take his collar off first, at least?"

His eyes widened in mock surprised, mouth forming an 'oh' as he gave his attention back to her when she asked the question. The woman gasped, slightly tanned hand coming up to covering her lips.

"So that's what I did wrong then." The mask kept on for a few seconds more before his eyes crinkled, mouth twisting into a smirk. The woman mirrored his amusement, hand lowering to fade on top of her chest.

There were some around them that heard the whole conversation and stepped away, fear on their faces. The woman laughed at their reactions, quickly coming over to say how it was joke, they didn't put any cat inside the microwave. They were unsure but trusted her to some extent because they didn't question it further. Perhaps they knew her. Understandable, they all lived inside the same building after all. Just because he didn't know who she was didn't mean no one did.

"Shiretoko Tomoko."

He blinked as she stood in front of him once more, her soft green eyes staring his. Her hand was extended toward him in an inviting gesture. He met hers if with some hesitance.

"Aizawa Shouta."

Suddenly she lit up as if he had told her the most amazing thing the universe had to offer, grip growing stronger were they joined.

"Oh! You're the hairdresser, right? The one from the sixth floor?"

She had heard of him? That wasn't usual, but he still gave her a nod, taking his hand back when she let go of it. The woman, Shiretoko, seemed rather excited by this bit of information, green eyes shining as if Christmas had come early.

"I've heard so much about you! The woman from your floor, Takeyama-san, told me that your work was absolutely breathtaking. I had been meaning to come up and have a talk, but my work demands so much and I just could never find the time."

It was a surprise hearing that Takeyama had put on a good word for him; the woman had only been to his salon twice. It wasn't that he didn't believe he was good at what he did, he knew he was, but more like some specific people didn't seem the type to recommend someone like him around and Takeyama fit that category. He would make sure to stop that type of thinking from now on.

Shouta took a longer look at the woman, starting from her hair and going all the way down to her shoes. He could see what her style was mostly this way, what she would look perfect in. Bright, straight hair, bright eyes, smooth skin, colorful clothes, comfortable fabric and knee-high boots. She was carrying the air of an outgoing, extrovert person, adventurous from heart, but didn't like to jump into things quickly, instead taking her time to assess a situation before making any final decision. He hummed, coming back up to look at her eyes which were staring at him in curiosity.

"I have some stuff in my apartment. If you think you can't reach the salon in time, text me and I will attend to you outside of my working hours."

Tomoko laughed, right hand coming up to put a strand of hair behind her ear. Nervousness. Shouta marked that down in case it could be something important to know.

"My, if I didn't know better, I would think that you want to have me alone inside your apartment, Aizawa-san."

"That depends. Do you accept?"

And here came the thinking before jumping down a plane. Tomoko tilted her head, bright eyes dulling to give way for the predator sight he didn't see before, but she probably surely had. She stood still for a few moments, finger tapping the outside of her thigh as she hummed and analyzed what she would be getting herself into. He couldn't blame her for being careful, they didn't know each other after all, which is why he was surprised when she finally answered.

"How about coffee first?"

Shouta startled, mouth opening and closing in several tries to say something back. The woman hid her face a second before snorting, shaking her head later to be under control again.

"Now?"

The ringing from the inside of their building never stopped, the sirens of the fire department still not heard anywhere close. It was three thirty in the morning, they couldn't enter to their apartments and trying to find a place that would accept them at this hour would be near impossible. Still, she gave him a nod.

"Where would we go?"

Tomoko didn't hesitate to take out her phone and start typing, soon after grinning when she got an answering message back. The cell went into her jacket pocket, a wink sent his way.

"I have my ways. Are you coming?"

The coffee shop was a ten-minute walk from their building, the place dark and deserted as one would expect for the hour being what it was. And yet, the owner greeted them from the inside and opened up the shop, her cheery attitude too bright for what the clock chimed. Emi Fukukado was Tomoko's friend and owned the whole place. She also didn't have a normal sleep schedule which was the reason as to why she welcomed them with open arms almost immediately. She had been happy to start the coffee machine and make anything they wanted to order; nothing would be asking too much, at least that's what she had said.

Tomoko had asked for a macchiato, just a little thing to boost her up while they waited together inside. Shouta asked for a black coffee without sugar. Neither commented on the choice each of them made. If it was up to him, they would be in complete silence for a while, the minutes passing being the only company with them together with the humming and hissing of the coffee machine not too far away. But, as it was, Tomoko didn't leave it up to him to move the conversation.

"Why a hairdresser?"

Shouta turned to pay attention to her, body moving to be in her direction.

"Why not?"

Tomoko cracked up a small smile, eyes looking down at the table before turning back up.

"I guess that's fair."

He found himself surprised when the sound of laughter came out of him, hands taking hold of his drink when Emi passed to give them their orders. There were some exchanges of 'thank you' before the woman disappeared and left them alone again. Shouta took a single sip of the hot beverage, sighed, then spoke again.

"To answer correctly," He rolled her eyes at her mock disbelief. "My best friend got me into the business. I always liked doing something with my hands and before long that 'something' turned out to be dealing with hair. People couldn't believe someone like me would turn out to be this person that liked to play with styles, but I never cared for what people thought."

He took a moment to let her soak in the bit of information he just gave away, hands wrapping around his foam cup and relishing in the heat coming from it. This was such an unholy hour. Then his hand was whisked away without warning, a much rough one turning his. Shouta stared at her as she hummed, her other hand bringing her own cup of coffee to her lips.

"I wouldn't be so surprised. Your hands, they were made to take care of stuff."

The words took him back years ago when Nemuri had said that to him, when her kind hands held his and brought him up from the hole he had dug for himself. Not a lot of people saw the meaning behind his work, the significance in what he did, but perhaps this woman could, perhaps he would let her.

Shouta captured the palm that was still analyzing his with its touch, fingers intertwining together. Tomoko gave him an inquiring sound, eyes traveling from their joined hands to question his dark gaze. He answered with a turn of his lips and a squeeze.

They had somehow started living in each other's spaces, clothes and other necessities finding their way inside parts of the other's house. The only set back Shouta found in this was how much more social she was making him, neighbors and outside friends coming over and thus by definition getting to know him. Now he knew Keigo and his weird obsession with birds, and some weird Shimura kid that sometimes decided to stay in the man's couch, hissing at anyone that gave him a dirty look. Shouta didn't want to know the story behind that so he just greeted them with a nod and kept on his path.

Vice versa, Tomoko was getting to know just how good he was at his job, her praise towards his hands never missing and if sometimes that leaned more on the forbidden side, well who was he to complain?

She loved watching him work, now taking time off to just drop by his salon and sitting a little far away. Perfect for viewing, distance not letting him get distracted. She overestimated him, though, because every time she went there, his heart couldn't stop beating dangerously inside his chest. He knew she couldn't exactly see him directly, but his coworkers could, and they never stopped teasing him because of it.

"So, tell me Shouta." Hizashi was the one to speak, as always. No one else dared to be the first to bother their boss, but the blond didn't exactly have a survival instinct when it came to his life. "Who's the pretty lady that comes to watch you every once in a while?"

Shouta ignored him, opting to just focus on the woman sitting in front of him, glaring at her through the mirror when she tried to look at him with a curious and questioning gaze. The other workers laughed, Hizashi moaned dramatically.

"Oh, come on! Don't leave a man uninformed. Aren't we best friends?"

"I don't know who established that."

The blond touched his chest as if he had been stabbed, left hand grabbing onto Nemuri's shoulder when she passed by. "Nemu, did you hear him? Did you see how he just killed me with his indifference?"

The woman rolled her eyes, taking a sidestep so Hizashi would go off balance and fall to the floor. The salon went off with laughter, Nemuri taking the chance to stand by Shouta as he tried to ignore the rest of them.

"Say, Shou, isn't that the woman you're living with?" Hizashi gasped, batting away the hand of a coworker that tried to help him off the floor. The brunet stared at Nemuri with false disdain, bleach stained gloved hands pointing at her accusatorily.

"I can and will take money off your paycheck."

She raised an eyebrow, hands shifting the weight of a box on her hip.

"Not even you can be that petty."

Hizashi came over whining, eyes tearing up as he grabbed onto Shouta's shirt. "How can she know that and not me? Do I really mean so little to you?"

Behind that hurt façade, Shouta saw the eyes of mischief, ghost of a smirk playing under the mask of a victim his best friend was playing to be. They knew each other too well and Shouta wouldn't fall for such tricks.

"Who says she's telling the truth? And this isn't the time to talk about personal affairs, get back to work."

The conversation, as it would be, didn't end there, but the rest just decided to speculate by themselves since he wouldn't give away any type of relevant information. Shouta internally grinned, knowing that without him they would actually not know anything.

He went back to his apartment that night, not at all surprised that Tomoko was already there eating out of some take out boxes and reading a book on the side. Shouta cracked his neck, took off his shoes and want behind her to place a kiss on the top of her head. The woman gave him a small smile, head moving upwards to look at him.

"Welcome back."

He smiled tiredly down at her, pecking her lips and licking some sauce she smeared on the corner of her mouth. Tomoko scrunched her nose, making a small complaining sound at this.

"I see that you bought food."

She closed her book idly, one finger between the pages so she wouldn't lose the progress she had already made. Tomoko took a look around the table before turning back to him and giving him a single nod. "Yeah, I didn't feel like cooking. You can shower and heat up some of it after. I won't eat it all, I swear." She crossed her fingers and placed them over her heart to show that she would abide by her words, his unimpressed stare making her pout.

Either way, Shouta took her advice and went to take a shower, water cleaning away any and all stress that perched on his shoulder since he woke up in the morning. He loved his job, he really did, but sometimes some clients, or even his own employees, could turn the whole thing around and give him a headache. So, he stayed under the spray until he was feeling free again, coming out and dressing up before joining Tomoko back in the living room.

He passed behind her again, hand brushing her shoulder as he went to pick up some boxes and moving to the kitchen to heat them up. It wouldn't take long so he stayed by them, leaning backwards on the island he had inside, arms crossed over his chest, and sight set to watch his partner read. It wasn't anything unusual, just her with a messy bun on her head, legs folded under her body, one hand holding the book as the other played with a strand of her hair. She looked beautiful, genuine, and he loved her.

The realization didn't startle him, didn't make his heart flutter, didn't bring panic. Instead, he felt peace. He was living with the woman he loved, and he didn't need to make a big deal out of it, not do anything more than what they were doing right now. So, he waited until his food finished heating up and then he sat beside her, grabbing one her legs so she would place them on his lap as he used them as a table to eat. He received a glare for this, but Tomoko accommodated herself on his lap as he wanted, and then kept reading, turning this around so he would focus on his own task too.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, the shaking of his hands a very clear sign of this. Shouta had been planning for this moment for a long time, had thought deeply about it. Today needed to go just as he imagined, starting from the place and down to the box lying inside his pocket. He resisted the urge to take it out and look at the ring inside it. There was a very big chance he would let it fall down with how his body was behaving.

"Eraser!" His hands moved out of his pockets and came to unite on top of the table, the beautiful image of Tomoko greeting him from the door. Shouta smiled then scowled, frown making her laugh.

"I told you not to call me that." Tomoko put a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek, taking off her jacket before sitting down.

"I still don't get why you don't like it. I think it's cute."

"Of course you would." And then, silence. Emi came by their table to ask for their order, which they did and then they fell into silence once more. Tomoko was strumming her fingers on the table, head tilted as if waiting for him to talk. He cleared his throat.

"So," she started, deciding that he wouldn't have the courage to do it first. "Why did you want to meet here?"

Those words brought him back down to earth, back to what he wanted to do, what he had dreamed of for so long. Throwing out a little 'right', Shouta accommodated himself in the chair and leaned forward.

"Tomoko-" She gave him a nod and the wave of a hand to beckon him to continue, saying thanks to Emi when she came around to give them their orders. Shouta waited until the owner walked away before starting again. "Tomoko, I'm not a man of many words, as you know." She hid a snort behind the sip she took of her tea.

"So, I'm just going to do this without dragging it on."

He didn't make a big show out of it, didn't intend on grabbing the attention of everyone around them. No, he wasn't that type of person. Instead, Shouta took the box out of his pocket and placed it on the table, carefully opening the lid so the ring would be in her view. Tomoko gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth as her eyes watered. He waited for her to say something, to do something, but what he didn't expect was she turning away and start looking through her purse. Shouta frowned, a confused question on the tip of his tongue when she broke his concentration away by showing him a box of her own. She was giving him wet laughs now, opening the box to show him a silver band sitting inside. He was awestruck, speechless, perplexed. He could feel tears gathering at the corners of his own eyes when a scream and a crash came from their side.

Jumping out of their self-made bubble, the couple turned to see Emi staring at them wide-eyed, hands frozen over her chest, gaze focused on their table. Or, better yet, what they had on their table.

"Oh my god, you guys!" People were starting to notice the ruckus, heads turning to look at the owner and then to where her eyes were pointing at. Shouta started to hear gasps and murmurs, people commenting on the events happening inside this little café. He immediately wanted to clamp down, take the box and walk away but Tomoko took the ring and put it in her finger before he could make any drastic decision. He sent her a betrayed look, to which she answers by sticking her tongue out in a childish way. Emi, on the other hand, went crazy.

"You're getting married! Dear lord, this is amazing! Free drinks, free drinks for everybody!"

The clients exploded with the news, were those the couple and the rings or the free drinks exclamation, and cheered, clapping heard to the other side of the street. Shouta gained a tick on his temple, but it was soon washed away by a hand taking his own. Tomoko smiled at him, eyes dancing between the box she brought and his fingers in a silent question. Shouta set his jaw, giving her a single nod and melting on the spot when she slid the ring onto his finger before kissing the top of the same.

Their quiet, secluded moment was blown away by Emi coming closer and putting loudly a plate full of cake in front of them, her skin glowing with the new development. Shouta noticed how the playlist in the store changed to a more romantic mood, the slow melody of LOVE by Nat King Cole almost indiscernible between the roaring of the crowd coming over to congratulate them. He, on the other hand, was humming the song under his breath, laughing as he let Tomoko deal with any stranger that was being too extremely friendly and wishing them the best of times. She turned to him asking for help, and he just gave her a single shrug, grabbing the plate of cake and taking a bite. He choked on the first bite, though, when a hit made his leg hurt, the triumphant look on his now fiancé's face letting him know she did not regret this small bit of revenge. His heart swelled with love, admiration and a new determination to get her for what she had just done. He knew since the beginning that their time together wouldn't lack excitement nor adventure, and he was glad he took this road either way.


End file.
